Smuggling fungus and stealing Julio (06-05-2025--Hour3)

What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to dpeteclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. I'm going to move on from the Senate bill debate that occurred in the House. It did pass the House party line vote. They got to hammer out the differences in conference. But Alex has been waiting the last call from the last topic, and so I will get to Alex now. Hello Alex, welcome to the show. Hey, how you doing okay? I just want to say the Democrats won't be satisfied until America's turned into a filthy third world Spanish speaking dung heap sr is happening? Why a Spanish speaking one? Because I'll give you an example. I remember Biden gave a speech to some Hispanics. They said the future of America is Spanish. I mean, when you call a business or an agent said the federal government, it always says press one for English. You shouldn't have to press one for English in this country. I mean, when you look at all the various Spanish speaking countries in Latin America, Spanish is the official language. Why has the United States, the United States of America been forced to become suddenly bilingual. Well, because we don't have an official language of the United States. I remember this debate twenty years ago. There is no official right, there's our culture. Well, I mean, but language changes obviously, right we I mean, people adopt different language. You heard kids talk nowadays. My gosh, it's like a whole different language old in and of itself. But yeah, I mean, if i'd say, if you want the official language of the of the federal government, state government, and the like, like, you could do that and make it all the official language. Now, I will say, also, you go overseas, you go other countries, they speak a lot of English over there. But in the Latin American countries, Spanish is. Officially, right, but we don't have an official language. That's what I'm saying. Unless something has changed. I thought that President Trump had issued a proclamation several months back as stating about that English would be the language that of government. Okay, well then there you go. Then then fantastic, right that would solve that would solve the one of your one of your issues, right, yeah, hopefully, Okay, all right, cool, all right, thanks Alex, I appreciate the call. All right, let me get to this story. This is out of Harvard. You heard about their commencement speaker Luana Jiron Jiang spoke at the commencement for Harvard University. She apparently worked for the COMMIS. I know, I am as shocked as you are. She worked for the Chinese Communist Party entity with extensive ties to Beijing's military and intelligence networks. That according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation, Jiang, who graduated from the Kennedy School on May twenty ninth and appeared to take a swipe at the Trump administration during her speech, was a volunteer, aren't they all for the commis? A volunteer for the International Department of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation or the CBC GDF, or as I call it prior to I don't know why they like at that point, guys, don't even give me the acronym. Just give me a different name, you know, the CBCGDF. Really, that's what the acronym are going. Ok, yeah, just anyway, So she was a volunteer for this CBCGDF prior to attending Harvard between at least twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two. The organization is controlled by the Communist Party and has signed a cooperative agreement with a Chinese military arm Furthermore, it hosts a branch of a Chinese influence and intelligence service called the United Front Work Department or the UFWD, or as I call it, the UFWOOD, to which many of its leaders belong, including its secretary General, who reportedly wrote a recommendation letter for Luana Jaran Jang to go to Harvard. And then there's this from Detroit. Federal agents arrested a University of Michigan scholar from China on charges she tried to smuggle a biological pathogen in to the United States. This pathogen is characterized as a potential agricultural terrorism weapon that can be used for targeting food crops. Does anybody else get the sense that China is trying to do all sorts of things that are not quite military actions but kind of affect the same result, and then if they want to go take Taiwan, they may go ahead and pull the trigger on a whole bunch of different little ops that create chaos and mayhem and death and destruction inside the country. Is that just me? Is that just me? Or does anybody else kind of get that feeling? The FBI counterintelligence case against um scholar Jung Qing Jan thirty three years old, as well as her boyfriend, her boyfriend, or is this one of those partnerships you know they put spies together and they're like, Okay, you're gonna go over as like a boyfriend girlfriend team, but they're not really boyfriend girlfriend. Did anybody see the documentary The Americans, Right? It was a TV series The Soviets send over these couples that pose as Americans, married couple, and they even have kids who are American, right, But they're actually Commi spies. Now, I'm not saying that the communist Chinese would engage in any kind of behavior that mimics what the communist Russians would do, but they do share a bit of a history. So her boyfriend, thirty four year old Zunyoglu, So you have John and Lou. The case was unsealed in federal court in Detroit this week on Tuesday, and it marks the second time in less than a week that a Chinese national ties to the university has been charged with federal crimes. On Friday, prosecutors unsealed the criminal case against former UM Chinese student who had voted illegally in the twenty twenty four election and then he fled the US to avoid prosecution. So the woman, the girlfriend Jian, is a citizen of China who received a doctorate degree in plant pathogens from Xijiang University, and investigators say they have discovered information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. I did not see that coming. Yeah, oh, really, like somebody who's studying plant pathogens and crop killing agriterrorism weapons, she would be in the Communist Party, gosh. Prosecutors say she received money from a Chinese fan foundation funded largely by the Chinese government, in order to conduct postdoctoral work, including research on a fungus known as Fusorium gramminarium, a biological pathogen that can cause devastating diseases and crops. Prosecutors say that her boyfriend illegally smuggled a biological pathogen into the US at the Detroit Airport on July twenty seventh, wait, a year ago. When Customs and Border Protection officers questioned him, he made false statements two Customs Border Patrol officers about the purpose of his visit to the United States and his knowledge of the existence of the biological pathogen that was in his possession. Yeah, oh, I left my luggage alone. I guess somebody must have put it in there while I was asserts in your shoe. I took my shoes off while I was going through the scanning thing. He admitted ultimately to smuggling the pathogen and said that he brought it to the United States so that he could conduct research on it at a lab at the University of Michigan, where his girlfriend worked. So, who do you think is the brains of this operation? Right now? So far in this story, arc, who do you think is the brains? Fusarium greminarium is a strain of a plant pathogen that causes head blight, according to the Criminal Case, a disease that can devastate wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Wouldn't that just be corn is corn the same as maze, I feel like, I mean, okay, they may be genetically different or something, because I've heard you can't even grow corn with without all of the stuff anywhere, like you can't like the original corn doesn't exist anymore. I don't know. It's responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide every year. So pretty nasty stuff, all right. 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Creative Video Preserving Family Memories since nineteen ninety seven, located in mint Hill, just off four eighty five. Mail orders are accepted to get all the details that create a video dot com. Fusorium gramminarium A gramminarium a strain of a plant pathogen. It's some sort of a fungus or something, and it's very bad. It's responsible for billions and economic losses worldwide every year. Toxins produced by Fusorium gramminarium. Sorry, I'm not really up on my Latin. It can actually affect people too, causing vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in livestock as well as humans. According to the complaint, a potential agro terrorism weapon is what it's described as fusori I'm just gonna call it FG from now on, if that's okay with everybody. FG is classified as a potential agro terrorism weapon that could be us used for targeting food crops. So John and her boyfriend are charged with several crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the US smuggling, making false statements to investigators, as well as visa fraud. The smuggling charge carries the stiffest penalty, up to twenty years in federal prison. The roots of the case, though, go back to March of twenty twenty four. That's when Lou applied for a B two tourist visa to enter the United States, and on the visa application, it asks do you seek to engage in espionage? Are you coming to spy? And you know spies, they have to tell you, all right, like that's the old thing, you know, Like if you're under cover, you got to tell me. Are you going to engage in sabotage or export control violations or any other illegal activity while you're here? And Lou answered no. And then he arrived at Detroit Metro Airport four months later July of twenty twenty four, and during an inspection, an officer found a hidden note written in Chinese, also a round piece of filter paper, and four baggies filled with small clumps of reddish plant material. When asked about these materials, Lou lied and said someone must have put them in his bag, so I left it unattended. I know you, said not to, but I totally forgot. I really had to go to the bathroom and I want to bring my suitcase into the scummy floor bathroom, so I left it out and maybe that's when somebody put it in my bag. But upon further questioning, he broke down and acknowledged that the materials were different strains of FG. So they prevented him from entering the US. They sent him back to China, but before that, investigators searched his iPhones. Apparently he had multiple iPhones, which is totally not something a spy would have. One contained an article that titled twenty eighteen plant pathogen warfare under changing climate conditions. So, right, so you carry with you the phone that has the article on it about plant pathogen warfare with coincidentally a plant pathogen that is used in plant pathogen warfare. Guys, I'm not sure if we're going to be able to figure this one out. A search of his devices then revealed messages between him and his alleged girlfriend that indicate Jian, who is at University of Michigan working in the laboratory there, that she apparently smuggled biological material into the United States. Also back in August of twenty twenty two. They discussed smuggling seeds. So she says where to put it, and Lou says, just put it in your shoes, and then she writes back, I stuffed them in my shoes. Travel record show. One day after those messages were exchanged, she arrived in San Francisco from South Korea. She did not declare that she was importing biological materials. The investigation then intensified four months ago in February, after Donald Trump assumed the presidency. That is when FBI agents interviewed you. Well, I mean that makes sense because the FBI was, you know, overloaded with a whole bunch of cases of you know, Catholic church goers and you know, parents complaining to school boards about you know, comic books showing gay sex and so like. The FBI were up to their eyeballs and more important things. And then Trump came in and was like, you're going to focus on like these less important things like agro terrorism and the destruction of our food. You know, I know, I can't believe people voted for this, but whatever they did. So that's when the FBI agents interviewed Jin, who was still working at the lab. She's still at the University of Michigan. They popped this guy in July and she remained at the lab. The Communist Chinese must think we are fools, and honestly they're I guess not too far off on that. I mean, they did float a balloon over our entire country for several weeks. Right, So the FBI goes and interviews her at the lab. While talking to the FBI, she makes several false statements. She denied knowing that her boyfriend planned to study in the United States or that he was bringing any biological materials into the country. She also denied helping him in his research on the fg FBI agents asked her to hand over her cell phone. Can we just check your cell phone? And she refused, but the investigator seized it and searched the device after obtaining a search warrant. The search uncovered a form that was signed last year that included a pledge to support the Chinese Communist Party. So he's got on one of his multiple phones an article about plant pathogens whilst carrying a plant pathogen, and she has a form a loyalty pledge on her phone. The search also revealed the conversation between her and another person in January of last year that indicated prior smuggling efforts, which included unknown substances shipped to the United States that were hidden between the pages of a used statistics book. Which that's kind of brilliant. Okay, if you're going to be smuggling stuff, put it in a book about statistics. You know, you know, customs and tsapeople, they're not going to be checking that. No one's going to be opening up a book on statistics. The book was destined for Jeon's home in ann Arbor, Michigan, but it was intercepted by federal agents and analyzed by biological threats specialists in Kentucky. The samples were subsequently destroyed in twenty twenty four. That's how long this took. You finally got around to interviewing this woman only after Trump got into office. I kind of feel like we deserve whatever's common. I really do, like this is just so bad. Here's a great idea. 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Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins Ofashville dot com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. All Right, So I have an update on the missing bulldog named Julio. French bulldog named Julio. This was the dog that was stolen while he was sitting in a car. The car was stolen by a bunch of punks and the car was eventually recovered the thief. The car thief was arrested, but the dog has not been returned to its owner. And last week, I think it was maybe a week or maybe two weeks ago, the owner and another person who is supporting her and helping her spread the message and the word, they went down to the Charlotte City Council and they were, you know, demanding some action here, like they've got evidence of who has the dog, and like they can't get any traction to get this woman her dog back from these these thieves and their family members. Well this was I guess Monday. Another arrest has been made now in connection to the theft of the French bulldog named Julio. Twenty year old to Harry Taylor was booked into the Mecklinburg County Detention Center on May thirtieth and charged with felony possession of stolen Goods. According to an affidavit, Charlotte Mecklamburg police were called to you know, the scene where the stolen vehicle was taken and Julia was inside the victim's vehicle. The car was found five days later. A juvenile was charged. So we don't know who that person is. I went over all of this a couple of weeks ago or a week ago. They've been harassing the victim because her name is known right the publicity of the case, but also her information is on the police report. But because it's a juvenile, it's a child who did the crime, allegedly, they get all of their information redacted. So they get to hide and now they get to target the victim. They've tried to extort the victim. They've harassed her, they've threatened her. But apparently this twenty year old to Harry Taylor had the dog and off of his phone they got So let me back up. This is from Queen Cityews qcnews dot com. While investigators were investigating an unrelated incident, data from a cell phone was reviewed and found to contain evidence for this case. So that's where they get this phone. They got a text message that says Taylor had the dog to Harry Taylor, twenty years old, and was bringing it to the co defendant's home. Further evidence on the phone confirmed that the dog and the vehicle belonged to the victim. They were also photos and videos of the victim's car and her dog. Like this still is beyond me, Like, how do you not just go and start going to these people's homes and say give us the dog or you're gonna face charges. Because there was another woman, another adult, i should say, who was also charged with felony possession of stolen goods in relation to this case. Her name Kendra Hunter, thirty seven years old. So now you have two adults plus the juvenile that I'm sure like went right back to the guardian or parent that is obviously unable to control him. So both of the adults are being charged with felonies because the dog is worth five thousand dollars. Investigators also reviewed Kendra Hunter's teenage son's cell phone and they found a photo of Julio that was taken at their home less than a day after the dog was stolen. Gee, I wonder who's got the dog? Could it be Mommy? The teenage son who has not identified the officer's officials have not said of Hunter's son was the juvenile who was arrested. But my money's on yes. And so Junior shows up with a stolen vehicle and a stolen dog and you take pictures of it, and now you're popped for a felony, and for some reason, you still have not returned this woman's dog. Some people do not have a chip in their brain. I am convinced the dog, a six year old French bulldog named Julio, was inside a car that was stolen from the Alta Croft apartments on April sixth. This is wbtv's report. Within days of the theft, Julio's owner, Jayla Gittens, said her brother got a video of the alleged thief driving around with the dog. According to the affidavit, investigators were looking to an unrelated incident. When they reviewed Jahari Taylor's phone, they found evidence for this case. The Affidavid continues to state that there were text message conversations between Tahari Taylor and Kendra Hunter. Sorry, Taylor and a co defendant in the other case in the affidavit as identified as Jamari Banks. That's the other co defendant from this other unrelated case that they got his phone for. Officials said that Taylor and Banks had a text conversation on April seventh, the day after the theft, and in the messages, Taylor stated he had Gitten's dog and was bringing it to Jamari Banks. Nail him with possession of stolen goods, slap the felony on him now too. The Affidavid also said after further investigation, evidence was found on Taylor's phone confirmed that the dog and vehicle being discussed was Gittens, and with Gittens, text messages, photos videos of Gitten's vehicle and dog further confirmed Taylor was in possession of Julio. Why is this dog still not reunited with its owner? All right? If you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, and you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off. Any subscription is the vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. All right, some updates here regarding the Charlotte Mecklenburg police chief and the big payoff and the no confidence vote. So first, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police did not receive enough responses from its members to release an outcome of the no confidence vote over the police chief, Johnny Jennings. The FOP made the announcement in a Facebook post Tuesday evening. The local FOP announced it would hold the vote after news of the mysterious payment made by the City Council too Jennings in a closed session on April twenty eighth. Charlotte Observer reports by Emily Broyles quote, over the last nine days, the Charlotte Mecklenburg FOP Lodge Number nine conducted a vote of confidence against against CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings. We provided numerous opportunities for members to vote, offering both in person and online options. The vote concluded tonight as scheduled, and the number of votes we received was not enough to validate an outcome, and that concludes the process. So he avoids a no confidence vote, but he is going to get some pension spiking, so good for him, good for us, but good for him the chief, I mean the Observer also then details goes through the agreement that was eventually released after public pressure and Charlotte City Council members gave him a retroactive pay raise. They gave him another forty six K retention bonus split into two payments, and that money totally roughly sixty thousand dollars, could boost Jennings's annual pension by about ten thousand dollars, so he'll be pulling in one hundred and seventy three thousand annually pension. This is something called pension spiking, where you load up a bunch of pay and compensation at the end of a career in order to make that the sort of the time period that they use for the calculations for your pension. They also gave him an extra forty days of vacation, which if he doesn't use it can boost his pension even more to about one hundred and eighty thousand dollars annually or fifteen K a month. Pension benefits for local government employees in North Carolina take into account two factors, the person's highest four years of consecutive earnings and the person's years of service. So the last four years I'm assuming he probably made the most amount of money in his career. So now he's got the pension and these To be clear, the observer points this out, these are only estimates, right. His total compensation for twenty twenty five, which would be used to determine his pension and includes bonuses and other pay, is not known at this time, but like that's the formula, they include bonuses. He has gotten bonuses. It's also unclear how much sick or vacation time he had accrued and when he leaves that all gets paid out and rolled in as well, so that could also increase his pension too, So yeah, good for him. He'll pull in, you know, one hundred and eighty to two hundred thousand a year for the rest of his life as a pension thanks to the Charlotte City Council paying him with our money for this stuff. So thanks a lot for that city Council. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listen, litening, and don't break anything while I'm gone. M hm.